Heaven after hell...

23 July 2006, Sunday

My legs and arms are still aching from the Lambak climb... not that kind of very sharp pain but the gnawing type which trips you up at exponential levels when you conquer the stairs and recedes only to lurking below the surface, waiting to act up when you do something as innocuous as walking faster...

But of course, such episodes cannot keep me down...by 12, I was at The Legends at Fort Canning savouring the delicacies there....the array of salad condiments was impressive, so was the main course... but the truly unbeatable clincher was the dazzling spread of desserts... mouthwatering indeed were the piping hot, melt-in-your-mouth bread-and-milk pudding, the chocolate fountain for dipping an assortment of fruits/marshmallow (same as the one at Shangri-La that I drooled over on tv), the Nonya kueh, the extremely sinful pudding and calories-laden ...... too many to mention....

I piled on much more than I lost at Lambak, but who cares? Just have to go EBC to lose the excess calories, hahahaha.... Anyway, I realise this is a nice place to do marking.... good food, melodious live music from the pianist tinkling on the ivories, free newspapers to divert my attention from the less-than-perfect exam scripts, comfy sofa, pristinely clean toilets that you can sleep in, not to mention the entire garden at the back where I had spent one Sunday birding.... ahhh, maybe I'll get to see that elusive barbet again...

My pain dissipated almost immediately....

Gunong Lambak

22 July 2006, Saturday

Finally discovered the difference between 'gunong' and 'bukit' on my trek on Gunong Lambak, Kluang, near Johor. Why is Bukit Timah not called 'Gunong' Timah? Because even the hike up to 'base camp' was twice harder than the hardest on the BT trail... and the entire ""hike"" (deserves a double inverted commas) turn out to a climb for me....80% on all fours, 5% falling and the rest ....I don't know what I was doing.... The itinerary stated that it is a manageable hike with ""a bit"" of rock scrambling with only ""some"" "" steep"" sections, but I guess I should have known better to trust guides who have been to the Nepal mountains(6000m!!) and the Kilimanjaro I've read about in "A Girl's Adventure - travel across Africa, anyway, anyhow" by Jacqui Tomlinson. (I love, I want!). Just 50m into the trek and I was secretly cursing myself in paying money to suffer....

Anyway, I actually grow to like climbing up... though I again rediscovered the disadvantage of having short legs (the greatest regret of my life) ... some people could stride up but I had to leverage on my arms to clutch anything that came my way - rocks, roots (I think I've touched every root there...) even thin-as-stick-insects twigs stuck on the ground, to the dismay of my guide Aileen, without whom I would have died on the mountain, I think! And to add to the drama, it had to rain ..... but every cloud has a silver lining; if it hadn't rained, we wouldn't have enjoyed the scenic view of Kluang and beyond.... with only a slight mist covering the interesting-looking mountains afar.....

But just as I soon got the hang of hauling myself over "gentle" slopes that extend to the height of my waist, I soon discovered going down is actually the bigger hurdle... if there is no one around, I would have let go and just slide or roll down the mountain... but of course Aileen was aghast at the idea and patiently guided me where to put every(!) step... KK was 'helpful' in showing how to do the 'Tarzan' thing - swinging from tree to tree but it's just not my cup of tea.... and all that talk about having low CG (which short pp are blessed with) didn't do me any good either...

Along the way, I met warm local folk who enquire about my falls (as advertised loudly by the dirt on 50% of my pants, front and back) and these pp really put me to shame ... comparing their slippers with my rugged Columbia specially made-for-trekking-on-rough-terrain boots. Just like my Brookes, I don't deserve my shoes...

I was so glad to reach the bottom of the mountain I could have hugged Aileen or any tree.... but I wouldn't want to repay them by soaking them in my sweat.....

and oh.... if you are interested to know, after all that adventure, I discovered I did not climb a mountain at all.... according to the Great Geography Teacher (GGT) C, Gunong Lambak falls 90m short of joining the mountain club at 600m.....

Shape Mag run

16 July 2006 Sunday

Really off-day.... went to the race sky-high with hope but fell flat, haha! All my pre-race ambitions of running within top 100 (Iris was 98th in the 5km!) and running sub-60 went up in the flames of the hot morning. I don't know what to blame the disastrous 79-minute run on....the terrain? not really, I have run worst terrain before... this is about the same as Stanchart... woman's problem? But it was a case of both flesh and mind withering as the race wore on, especially at the last 2km... Saw this woman zooming past on the bridge in the opposite direction just as I was pondering should I walk instead? Some other 'angmohs' whizzed past too... and my running coach (for one session only, maybe I should engage her services...)

The next morning, a dreary Monday no less, I saw the paper clipping on the event... what nearly made me choke was the winner won in an amazing 39min which works out to a speed of 256m/min... astonishing considering you have to sustain it over 10km. In fact, she is faster than the winner of 5km (20min)!

The winner is a remisier by profession, which begs the question - why am I so slow? Don't you find it mind-boggling that others can do so the same thing much better than you?

But I'm glad I was in this race.... because I have a new target now...

10km in 50 minutes .... by the time stanchart comes round.

Akan datang:

Aug - New Balance, Sheares (10km)
Oct - Great Eastern (5km)
Dec - Stanchart (10km)

... and for the wallet too.....

15 July Sat afternoon

Went Marina Square to collect my timing chip for tomorrow's Shape mag run....the booths themselves were not much to look at... Mary Chia and whoever's body contouring service....I should expect women who run don't need this? Anyway, this was my first trip there since the revamp and I love it!

Though I got a free Nike red "kick-up dust" tee (seen it in WOS before: about 40 bucks), I couldn't resist buying a similar (same colour) "excuse me" which I had eyed twice previously but didn't buy because of the price. Nike B.I.R.D sold it at 70% off and I happily lapped it up ..... the Nike spree continued with a nondescript shop at the basement with yet another tee and a cap selling at cheap, cheap prices......

Thought maybe I should stem the urge to buy and so sidestepped Mizuno & Planet Traveller. Bravely resisted buying another red Adidas tee at RSH.... same colour but the details at the back is more interesting than the two I bought.... with a fan-shaped mesh behind. Perhaps it's the regret of not buying thatI compensated at Fila's "70% off!" sale. Another 2 dry-fit tee were in the bag...but no regrets for this 'cos it costs only $9 apiece.... Ditto for the two HUGE bags I bought to house the purchases..... would come in handy to cart papers home to mark....

Guess I have to justify all those purchases by running everyday, hahaha.... wasn't thinking about the money, thanks to the bonus.... but I'm still glad that I live in the backwaters of Singapore far away from the money-sapping malls in town.

But the shopping was not all that frivolous....I bought a Nikon drybox for my Nikon bino. The sales guy still remembered which model I bought! Of course couldn't resist asking about my (not yet!) ED50....but they do not have stock.... luckily? For it suddenly struck me.....

How do I smuggle all the loot back without mum knowing?

A tiring day for the feet....

15 July 2006 morning

Regent Family Day today.... started with the Sports for Life run. For all my visibility as an "on" (?) runner who pounds the tarmac/track regularly, I have to concede actually I'm not such a good runner as people thought.... because I don't push myself! It's an uphill task to remind myself to tread out of my comfort zone, but then....

Joy's right - a personal trainer like hers does help.... touched her biceps .... wow! It's the type I drool about! Not too bulky like the she-man type.... but sufficiently springy and strong to impress even the men.... haha.... I like.... I want!!! But first, the 10km tomorrow first. Hopefully will get the Polar watch somehow...My lucky streak, please continue! Please let that be my fifth prize this year....

Joy really ran a good race today.... overtaking me at the fourth round, leaving me to bite the dust....but I wasn't exactly slacking....I didn't stop or.... even do what I consider jog. Tried interval running but my best is just not enough. My muscles fatigued easily.... and today it was the arm muscles as well (I need the biceps!) I can't hope to sprint the way Iris does, too! Somehow, landing on (almost!) tiptoe is alien to my feet. Lifting my legs at right angle, too, is as tall a task as going to the moon....Only makes me tire faster and heel bearing the brunt of the impact.

I finished at #265 but I'm much more concerned with the timing. Did I get the 100 bucks? Will only know at the end of the year...

Anyway, the rest of the events were interesting too..... we set a record (certified, ok!) with everyone plastering their hand- and thumb-print on a 21m (?) long banner. Kudos too to the PE department for organising the fun games. We won the first round by a resounding margin but results were void because every team broke the rules. Haha, but winning is not important.
Not my usual thoughts.... but, well, it's family day afterall :)

Birding updates....sorry, can't help it! Work-in-progress

Wow, a month has whizzed past since my last update.... actually, it's just as well. I never intended my blog to be a birding one.... but some passions just consume you so much that you hope to live, breathe and do everything else with it.....

So, just as well that I summarize all the birding I've done in these past weeks into one entry... will save you the description of feathers and my feelings of euphoria....

NB: 'Lifer' means seen for the first time in my life :)
and NB means Note.... (why huh? someone please enlighten)

18 June 06 - Upper Peirce Reservoir
white-bellied sea eagle, tailorbird, sunbird

Lifer: (1) flame-backed woodpecker (sorry have to break promise... this guy is too flamboyant not to describe.... I saw the back when it's perched on a bare tree - its iridiscent brown and flaming red mixed in an intoxicating kaleidoscope of colours beautifully set off in the still-lukewarm sunshine.... :) :) . Obviously for people to see, right? What's the use of having such a disgustingly beautiful back?

(2) stork-billed kingfisher (finally! after seeing the ubiquitous white-collared, throated versions) - thought the bill looks too massive to be mounted on its body, but nature always has its reasons... and good ones too!

(3) malkoha ..... too big to miss... thought they are shy creatures but certainly not shying away from limelight.... with all of us eyeing/shooting it for a good 5 minutes.

(4) babbler - didn't see this actually.... too small and fast...... I like big bird..... the Sesame Street kind....hahaha.....

(5) latest fieldscope ED50 - new from Nikon - the new object of my desire.

Why do I keep collecting expensive hobbies??

(Don't read the rest - just a draft....)

25 June 06 - Pulau Ubin
1 July 06 - Bt Batok Nature Park
laughing thrust chasing squirrel, tailorbird eating butterfly, bulbul, woodpecker
heard collared kingfisher
beeeater, dove ?

9 July 06 - Fort Canning Park
lives opp fort took photos of amourous sea eagles . saw actual nest and cluster of 20 bats under a coconut tree. Deepa kerela and the owls - a plant person - showed us the wonders of banana and gooseberry